The Date of Body of Proof’s First Incision Revealed

Well, it looks as if the pieces are slowly starting to come together on ABC’s midseason schedule, according to EW.com. Despite the fact that the alphabet net hasn’t officially announced their completed midseason schedule (joining the CW and CBS), the Dana Delaney-led Body of Proof has gotten an official start date and time: March 29, 10:00. After initially being penciled in as a Friday show, ABC’s latest crack at a procedural was delayed to accommodate the lackluster performance of the network’s new shows.

In taking over the timeslot of presumed lame duck Detroit 1-8-7, Proof has a greater chance of initial success. Couple the show airing after the Dancing with the Stars results show with the increased eyes that come with mid-week television and you have the potential to turn around a timeslot that hasn’t been terribly kind to its shows in a while (Boston Legal and NYPD, Blue excluded). Though Tuesdays at 10:00 was the slot for the last time ABC tried a procedural show (The Forgotten), their faith in Delaney as a draw and success with character-driven procedural Castle ultimately won out, allowing Body of Proof to have one of the best starting positions that it could get.

The only real stumbling block for Body of Proof will come from another serious, character-driven procedural that has quickly become every TV critic’s favorite show: The Good Wife. Unless CBS does a little shifting of their own (and it wouldn’t be out of character, as evidenced by the moves that Survivor and The Big Bang Theory made this season), it seems that two similar shows with presumably similar audiences will go head to head. Just when Good Wife audiences thought they could breathe a little easier with the news that NBC moved Parenthood to Monday nights, in comes a show that could conceivably deliver the knockout punch to the critical darling.

What do you think about the move ABC made? Is it too late a premiere to get your attention? If you watch The Good Wife, will you check out Body of Proof? What would you have put in the timeslot if you ran the network?